The Wheatland Football League season is over in Westlock.
Playing in their first playoff game of the year in Athabasca on Oct. 20, the Westlock Thunderbirds came up short, losing 40-14 to the Pacers.
It was the T-Birds’ third loss in three tries against Athabasca this year.
“It was not like we had hoped,” coach Jon Kramer said about the final result.
Although the game was a rematch in terms of the two previous meetings between the teams during the regular season, there was an added sense of rivalry given that the two teams had met in the playoffs the past two years as well.
In both those meetings, it was the T-Birds who had come out victorious, Kramer said. This time, however, it was clear the Pacers weren’t going to let Westlock record a playoff hat trick.
“They stuck it to us,” Kramer said. “They kept the pedal on the metal until the final whistle went. They were still aiming for the end zone and pushing big plays.”
In Saturday’s game, the teams played fairly even for the first few drives, but it soon became apparent the Pacers were ready for the T-Birds.
Once the Pacers had found where the T-Birds’ defence was lacking, they exploited it with a vengeance, started making big plays and added points to their half of the scoreboard.
However, even though the game did get away from the T-Birds, Kramer said his players never backed down and didn’t show any signs of wanting to go down without a fight.
“It was nice to see the character of the guys,” he said. “They didn’t quit even when they knew the score was out of reach.”
Keeping the score from being a complete blowout was rookie Jesse Plamondon, who had both of the T-Birds’ touchdowns in the game, he said.
With the season now over, Kramer said he expects the players will suffer some football withdrawal over the next few days.
“The season is done, but one thing we tell our guys is that it’s going to hurt a lot for a week, but let that motivate you for the next years to come,” he said.
With only five or six players graduating the team, he expects to have a strong, hungry core ready to tackle all comers next year.
In one way, he saw that potential future in how the Pacers took care of business against the T-Birds on Saturday. Athabasca’s Grade 11 and 12 players were tired of losing to Westlock and were hungry for the win.
The hope is the returning T-Birds will be eager to improve on this season.
If there was one word Kramer would use to sum up the season, it would be “resiliency.”
The coaching staff put lofty goals in front of the players, and even though the season went sour in the early stages, the players never gave up.
Lesser teams may have folded, Kramer said, but the T-Birds displayed mental fortitude in scrapping for every point they could get.
Anyone can learn the skills needed to be a good football player, he said, but you can’t teach the heart and desire the T-Birds showed.
With game action all wrapped up, Kramer said the only item on the team’s agenda is the awards night, which is scheduled for some time in November.
